Captain Marvel vs Wonder Woman

Captain Marvel vs Wonder Woman

I recently decided to watch both Wonder Woman (2017) and Captain Marvel (2019) back to back to compare the two female super hero movies. Let me start by saying that I am a huge fan of the Marvel movies, not so much the DC movies. Captain America is my favorite super hero, but when it comes to these two women, I actually prefer Wonder Woman.

When it comes to their power sets, Captain Marvel might be more powerful, but Wonder Woman is better trained at combat, literally training for centuries. Throughout their movies each character learns more about their powers and how to control them. While Captain Marvel might glow, I enjoy Wonder Woman's accessories, the sword, the shield and the lasso.

Outside of their standalone movies, I have enjoyed both women but WW has had more screen time. First introduced in Batman v Superman and then featured in Justice League, Wonder Woman was a highlight of those two films for me.  Unfortunately Captain Marvel was not in Avenger's: Endgame that much, but she does bring an impressive assist to the team during the final battle. 

Both Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel focus on emotions as a theme. Emotions are often seen as a weakness in women, but these movies attempt to show that emotions, (empathy, love and compassion) are positive traits for a superhero. In Captain Marvel, Carol is constantly being told to keep her emotions in check (even though the only emotion is anger), and in the end she learns that her emotions (her connections to the people she cares about) are a part of her strengths. 

In Wonder Woman, Diana is presented as being different because of her compassion and innocence in the world of "man". Throughout the movie she shows empathy for the victims of the war and in the end she fights for love. In terms of the theme of emotions, I think the WW movie handles it better. It really shows that a woman can be strong, powerful and save people all while embracing these "emotional female" traits. Captain Marvel on the other hand, is more about how her emotions can restore her memories and unlock her true powers. It's not really about how she uses them to be a superhero.

Now Brie Larson (CM) is a better actor than Gal Gadot (WW) and I love everything that connects CM to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Overall, I think that Wonder Woman is the better movie. I think it has a solid narrative structure, even though the last act sort of falls apart. The first act shows Diana (WW) growing up and training and it's her call to action. The second act is about starting the journey and gathering the team. The third act escalates and then finishes the main antagonist. The fourth act reveals the true villain and pays off the character arc. Captain Marvel starts off with an exposition dump, the team is already assembled and then she literally crash lands on Earth. The movie sort of skips the hero's call to action moment and the audience is never truly invested in the characters outcome. So, the narrative is a bit of a mess, but moment to moment the movie works well enough to entertain me.

I love both of these strong female superheroes, although I actually consider Buffy(the vampire slayer) to be my favorite heroine. If I had to chose one of them to fight side by side with, I'd pick Wonder Woman. Because I feel like she would care more about me not getting hurt. Both women are kick-ass and strong but I feel like WW takes more of an emotional interest in the people she is saving. It all depends on where your personal moral values lie, but for me, WW in more inline with my moral compass. This is the 5^th time I've seen WW and 2^nd time I've seen CM. I enjoy both of these movies, and look forward to seeing their sequels.

PS:(Looking up photos for these characters, I could not find a dynamic pose for Captain Marvel, whereas Wonder Woman has several poses to chose from. Partially, because of her accessories).

If you like to read stories on WattPad, then you're in luck! Because I have recently posted some short stories on WattPad! Get ready for Halloween by reading my spooky/thriller inspired stories!

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